smith



E. M. AND M. E. SMITH.

BASE BALL GAME.

APPLICATION FILED PRJ. 1911.

Patented Oct. 14', 1919.

ATTORNEY THB coumau PLANonnAPH"mr:WASHnInm:n'.m V

i To all whom it may concern:

u rrEn s rarns PATENT ornron.

' EDWARD Must/11TH AND sMITiror MILFORD, coivirno'rrou'r.

BASE-BALL GAME. 7

Be it known that we, EDWARD M. SMITH and MABEL E. SMITH, citizens of the United States, residing at Milford, 1n the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Base-Ball Games, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in games and has for its prlmary ob ect, the provlslon of a baseball game which will be instructive as well as interesting and in which a small number of parts may be employed.

Anotherobject of the invention resides'in the provision of a game of the above stated. character in which a spherical member rep-.

resenting a baseballmay be employed to travel around a groove or runway in the game board and opposite which groove or runway are located a number of squares having marked therein thejvarious plays which may occur in a'regular baseball game, the spherical member stopping opposite the different squares to indicate the next play in this game.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a baseballgame in which the board may be marked in such manner as to represent a baseball diamond upon which the men representing the'players of each side or team may be located, while the groove or runway for the spherical member surrounds this portion of the board and the 7 different plays are marked upon the outer edge of'the groove or runway.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision 'of a bajseball game of the above stated character in which the board will be provided with suitable openings or sockets to'receive reduced ends ofthe members representing the different players, so, that these members or game pieces may be properly positioned at all. stages of the same.

A still further object of the invention re- 7 sides in the provision of a baseball game of the character stated, in which thengame board will be constructed in such manner that a record of the balls, strikes, innings, et cetera maym'beindic'ated on the board, without the necessity of employing extra means for keeping this record.

Still another object of the invention resides in the provision of a baseball game of the character stated, in which the game Specification of Letters Patent.

board will be constructed in such a manner and the words indicating the different plays be indicated whenever the spherical mem-- Patented Oct. 14, 1919.

Application filed April 6, 1917. Serial No. 160,272.

her travels aroundthe groove or runway,

regardless of the position in which the spherical member stops within said groove or'runWay. r With the above objects in view and others which may appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of cooperating elements ashereinafter more specifically set forth, shown in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application, and in which similar reference characters tially on the plane of line II,II of Fig. 1,v

looking in the direction indicated by the arrows,

. Fig. line IIIIII of Fig. 1, and

Figml is a detail sectional view on the plane of line IV-IV of Fig. 1, showing a player or game piece in position.

. -Referring more in detail to the drawings, A 1 deslgnates the board which is preferably of circular form and" which is provided in its upper face with a continuous groove or runway 2 for the spherical member 3. This spherical member 3 ismarked as a baseball but is preferably solid and of sufficient weight to eliminate danger of the'spherical member being forced overtheedges of the runway when traveling in the same. In

- fact a spherical member similar to a billiard ball should be employed. V

The central portion 'of.-tl1e board is marked ofi to represent abaseballdiamond and suitable openings orsockets l are pro vided in the board at thedifferent bases and homeplate and other proper positions to' receive reduced ends 5 of the pieces 6 repreopenings or sockets 4c are also provided in the outer portion of the board in order that designate 7 correspondlng parts throughout the several 3 is detail sectionon the plane of 'senting the different players on the two sides or teams. It will be understood that supported in proper position.

The outer portion of the board 1, surrounding the groove or runway 2, is divided 7 into squares 7 having marked therein all of the different plays which may occur in a regular baseball game, one or more of the plays being marked in each square. In the present case, I have shown 35 squares as indicated by the numbers surrounding the board with the plays marked therein but it will be understood that any suitable nun1- ber may be provided.

In order to keep a record of the number of innings and runs for each side, I have provided rows of openings or sockets 8 within the diamond and between the home plate and the first and third bases. These openings or sockets 8 may receive suitable counting pegs 9 as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. I11 order to keep track of the strikes, balls and outs, I have arranged pointers 10, preferably outside of the running lines between the home plate and the first and third bases, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. These pointers 10 may be turned upon their pivots 11 to proper position over the numbers 12 arranged around the same to indicate strikes, balls and outs respectively, a complete set of pointers 10 being provided for each side or team.

As means for supporting the game board in a horizontal position upon its support and always keeping the board level, so that the spherical member 3 may properly travel within the groove or runway 2, I have provided the supporting screws 13 which are threaded through the board, preferably the outer portion of the same, and which rest upon the support with the game board 1 spaced above the latter. These adjusting screws have suitable heads 14, by means of which they may be readily adjusted to raise or lower the sides of the board, as occasion may require.

In playing this game, the game pieces representing the players of one side or one team are placed in the proper positions upon the board and then the game pieces representing the players of the other side or other team are placed in position at the point marked for the batter in consecutive order, the spherical member 3 being rolled around the board to indicate the strikes, balls, outs and plays of the game, the strikes, balls, outs and plays being indicated by the position at which the spherical member 3 stops in the runway 2. This is continued until three men of the side are out and thereby completing one-half an inning, as in the regular baseball game. The men are then changed to give the other side or team a chance at the bat and complete the inning. The game is continued in this manner until the proper number of innings have been played and, of course, the side or team having the greatest number of runs to its credit is declared the winning side or team. Any number of parties may be represented on each side or team and the game will be found to be very instructive in the game of baseball as well as interesting and at times, even exciting, as very few runs are made by either side, on account of the arrangement of the different plays in the square 7 around the runway 2. It is to be understood that every possible play in a regular baseball game should be represented in at least one of the squares 7 and should the spherical member 3 stop opposite one of the lines dividing two of the squares, a foul strike should be called on the batter.

Vhile the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it will be understood that minor changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

hat we claim is Game apparatus for playing baseball, comprising a circular board having a circular runway near its outer edge and having a marginal portion exterior to said runway divided into spaces which bear directive matter corresponding with the possible plays, and having the center portion within the runway representing a diamond-shaped field including the bases, home plate and pitchers box, and having sockets for the infielders, there being sockets in the marginal portion for the outfielders, and said board having two sets of sockets for the game pieces of the two teams and pointers for the plays such as balls, strikes and outs, game pieces insertible in the sockets, and a ball freely movable in the circular runway and cooperating with the directive matter bordering thereon to indicate the play and the position of the game pieces in play.

In testimony whereof we a'IHX our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD M. SMITH. MABEL E. SMITH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

